Nolose Information

NOLOSE realizes that a giant conference every 12-18 months only goes so far, and wants to help support people's efforts at the local level. Toward this end, we offer seed money to support projects that expand the reach of fat queer activism in people's own communities. SPAL projects from 2007 included an inspired Zine-making party in London, a fabulous Roller Skating party in Philadelphia, and the very successful Fat & Queer mini-conference in New York. We loved supporting those projects because they were creative, fun, informative, and community-based. As our community grows and changes, so do the ways in which we connect and support one another. This year, we've had to make some changes to the way we do things in order to maintain a commitment to offering financial assistance and scholarships to the conference for as many qualifying people as possible. We've decided to put SPAL on hold this year, and direct the money we would have offered in grants into scholarships and financial aid. We're looking forward to offering SPAL again in the future, and we're excited about making changes to this program that will allow NOLOSE to provide a more sustainable support for community empowerment and action. The main change you will see when SPAL comes back around is that it will consist primarily of small loans made to individuals or groups, as opposed to grants. This means that those seeking seed money for events will be asked to repay the amount they're awarded. Because it's important to us to recognize and support that not all projects will or should be money-earning ventures, we will award one small grant per SPAL cycle. What are the things that won't change? We will always prioritize projects that: